Category: Uncategorized

For this weeks readings, which were all equally incredible but I was really interested in the poems that Dimitrius posted, and the one that really stuck out to me was “I sit and Sew” by Alice Moore Dunbar-Nelson. the line that specifically stood out to me was

” I sit and sew—a useless task it seems,
My hands grown tired, my head weighed down with dreams—
The panoply of war, the martial tred of men,
Grim-faced, stern-eyed, gazing beyond the ken
Of lesser souls, whose eyes have not seen Death,
Nor learned to hold their lives but as a breath—
But—I must sit and sew.”

This entire first stanza really got to me, how sewing is a useless task that many women do to make time go by faster, it is a difficult thing to learn and so many things to sew so it really does make your day go faster, but she describes it as this useless task, going on to talk about how men fight in the war getting to do these important things to them, as well as their country. But the woman in this story has to sit there and continue sewing, not doing the things she wants to do in life. I really enjoyed this poem as a whole but those lines really stood out to me. How life is affecting the woman in this story as well as women reading it, maybe feeling like the things they do are not as important because they are so small.

Focusing on mostly Natalies readings that was assigned this week I really enjoyed the sections of pride and prejudice and just rereading how many stories I could connect with the ways mr Darcy said a woman should be. it makes me think of shows like Bridgeton where in season 2 Anthony lists off all the things he is looking for in a wife while choosing who to marry, which he completely changes when meeting Kate and she is the complete opposite of who he is looking for like Darcy and Elizabeth, because ultimately in the end both of these couples get married although it is the exact opposite of what both men declare of the “woman they want”

one thing I immediately saw in the first couple chapters is the immediate comparison between edna and Adele ratignolle is how opposite they are in how they are as a woman as well as a mother. edna being described as a quiet and not as nurturing woman to her children while Adele is seen as a motherly woman who is graceful and obedient to her husband.

is Adele the way a woman should be? is she the way a perfect mother is? I was excited to continue to read as I learn more about edna as a character as well as Adele. I questioned if edna will change into the “ideal mother” and if Adele will switch from the graceful woman she is portrayed as.

I remember the fear in my eyes when hearing that I have to have an outline for my paper, I though another google doc for me to write a bunch of things that I may or may not use, but this outline was a lot different. I chose my outlining format by thinking of something that will organize my scattered thoughts. I used both a white board and note cards. the white board had my big ideas on it while the note cards I made had the big ideas as well as little ideas. this helped during my writing process since I was able to erase stuff on my whiteboard and use other notecards to write down new ideas. I found this outlining super easy since I again was able to erase and add certain stuff while writing my paper, and during drafting as well.

After sharing my stories with the class I got a lot more feedback and it helped me draft the section where I planned on writing more about my main book, which is called cancer vixen. A started to brainstorm what I want the focal points of my paper to be, while still having some secondary source in this draft. This draft I wanted feedback on mainly the quotes I pulled out from the book, is my analysis supporting the quote enough, and is the quote and analysis helping support my main argument.

what I had left before I submit my paper was mainly just organizing the paper as a whole, how can I make the paper flow, when I reread it does everything make sense. is there any quotes that are missing something to them. these were also my main concerns to this paper and my drafting process.

I am a creature of habit, I am somebody who never drafts before writing my paper, only ever doing it in high school when it was a grade. This draft was on one of my secondary sources and it helped with seeing how I can incorporate my other sources into supporting my evidence since the main focus of my paper I wanted to be about both of my books.

the feedback I wanted for my first drafting is if the secondary source is even needed, does it connect well with my thesis and my stories as a whole, can it back up my argument. my next drafting process is to focus more on writing about both of my stories, since I will have shared my stories with the class I will have more feedback on thesis ideas and what may be interesting to add.

I have read such things like “the bell jar” and “Jane eyre” sometimes not even remembering some parts where it was so misogynistic towards the main women in there story. also from the other readings that Isabella gave to us. I want to mainly talk about the story called ” Menstruation at 40″ I talked about this on the annotation thing but the line where she writes ” the bell is not a clock, nor a bell tolling, but in the eleventh month of its life, I feel the November, of the body as well as the calendar.” although these were the first few lines, they stuck out to me, they had a way of showing how a period or the loss of a child in the cold months of November being a very sad, lonely, time for a person but especially for a woman going through her period or the loss of a child.

For me, Drafting has been something I did a few times in high school and it completely left my life, it was something I thought was useless for wiriting a paper, and sometimes I still believe this but it does help especially for this paper. I began my drafting process by writing about the cost of treatment when a woman is diagnosed with cancer, how long they have to begin treatment before prices go up, etc. I felt it was important to begin with this section because it can move into my next section on how women bodies are portrayed and thought of once they find out they have cancer as well as after treatment, but I also thought of putting this section first cos it can go smoothly into the book im writing about as well.

the thing I find most difficult during my drafting process is finding a way to have the paragraphs flow and what sections should be going first. my next draft will be the section which I described above which talks about how women see their own bodies after going through treatment as well as family and loved ones.

For the readings this week, Tax readings for a thousand splendid suns caught my attention while readings through the different themes in the story as well as a little chunk of the story. I enjoyed reading of the different themes in the stories, it made me interested to read the little chunk and even want to pick up the entire book once I finished.

While reading a quote that stood out to me was ” like a compass needle that points north, a mans accusing finger always finds a woman.” immediately seeing this quote it made me think of other readings I did in class as well as outside reading. women most times are accused of things they did not do but a man will continue to point fingers at them to make them look good. to get a better sense of the story I looked it up and would love to read this story, hearing of two women who marry the same man and become bonded to protect each other since they both suffer from abuse by him. this story is definitely important when talking about woman’s bodies, the themes it delves into of abuse as well as the power of two women being there for each other is an important read.

for my topic proposal I will be choosing Breast Cancer in women, whether the story is fiction or non fiction, breast cancer is a real thing that many women experience. Many women may find breast cancer when they go in for a mammogram, which is a fear for a lot of women. I want my paper to be a place to write of women’s stories and how they felt when they were diagnosed, how the people around them felt, how it changed everyone’s lives. mainly focusing what it does to a woman’s body, their mental health, etc.

for my class reading the one I really want to focus on is the story cancervixen, while many people may think it is odd to read a graphic novel at a college level this story is so important to read because it shows a woman’s story of her having breast cancer and the affects it had on her and her family. i have always heard of stories of women with breast cancer and know many women that have it so it is important to inform other women of different side effects when having it and the hardships of breast cancer. I want to research more so I can put information in here that is helpful for women, although my paper won’t be a guide, it will have helpful information and thought out research, while also sharing the stories of strong women going through something very hard.